'Take a bow': Cricket world erupts over never-before-seen moment

Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi has become the first bowler in cricket history to take six wickets all bowled in a T20 match.

Afridi stunned the cricket world on Sunday with a rare double hat-trick in the T20 Blast in England.

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The 20-year-old fast bowler was in action for Hampshire against Middlesex when he took four wickets in four balls to cap an incredible spell of 6-19.

The rare double hat-trick was made even rarer by the fact all four wickets were bowled.

Chasing 142 to win, Middlesex needed 23 runs from the final 18 balls with four wickets in hand.

However Afridi had other ideas, taking the final four wickets with the first four balls of his final over.

The Pakistani paceman shattered the stumps of John Simpson, Steve Finn, Thilan Walallawita and Tim Murtagh in successive balls.

It marked just the sixth time in T20 history that a bowler has taken four wickets in four balls, and the first from a Pakistani.

Afridi’s figures of 6-19 are the best by a Hampshire bowler ever, and the equal-third best by a Pakistani.

Incredibly, all six of Afridi’s dismissals were bowled - the first time that has ever happened in a T20 match.

Even more remarkable is the fact Afridi had only taken one wicket at an average of 191 in the six games that came before his heroics.

Cricket fans erupted on social media over the ‘extraordinary’ scenes.

Aussies facing Christmas without families

Meanwhile, Australian cricketers are facing the prospect of a Christmas separated from their families as they prepare for a long summer in bio-security bubbles.

In Adelaide after Australia’s ODI series win in England, coach Justin Langer - and a number of players - are experiencing the reality of professional sport in the COIVD-19 era.

Langer is completing a two-week quarantine at the new Adelaide Oval hotel before doing it all again when he returns home to Perth.

But isolated stints in hotel rooms will be common place for cricketers as Australia gears up to host a blockbuster four-Test series against India.

The Boxing Day Test is tentatively booked for the MCG, but the marquee match could be shifted from its usual home depending on Victoria's coronavirus situation.

Langer says finding a balance between family time and playing will be need to be found during a complex and unique home summer.

“That is something I have talked about for the last four or five months with Cricket Australia,” he told reporters.

“We are talking about it with the ACA (Australian Cricketers' Association). It's one of the contentious issues at the moment.

“The quarantine issues are going to cause the greatest angst for the families.

“Every opportunity we are going to get for our players and support staff to see their families we are definitely going to take it.

“It's really problematic but it's the sacrifices we're going to have to make.”

with AAP